Daddy's Little Girl
by mary-d1
Summary: Ginny Weasley is holding down two jobs and trying to pull her father back from the brink of self-destruction. All the while she sees her hopes and dreams slipping farther from her reach. Sometimes peace can be worse than war...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related names and places are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This is something that came to mind after thinking about my father. He and I went through something similar to this after my mother's death.

* * *

Ginny stood in the doorway, listening to him bumping around in the dark. Her nose wrinkled as she caught the familiar scent; alcohol and a great quantity of it. She sighed as she heard the sound of him crashing into the sitting room table.

"Damn!"

He stumbled into the room where she stood with her wand tip alight. Blinking into the light, he smiled at her.

"There's my little girl. I'm home, Ginny-girl!" The words slurred together.

She gave a derisive snort. "I know; I smelled you coming up the walk."

Arthur stumbled close and peered at his daughter. Then, giggling, he held up a bottle. "I found the funniest damn thing and had to bring it home to show you. Look it's got your name!" Pointing to the label on the bottle, he swayed precariously. "See? It says _Gin_ and your name's Ginny! Isn't that funny?" He unscrewed the top and took a long drink.

"Yes, dad, it's hilarious. Now why don't we get you upstairs?"

Ginny managed to maneuver the bottle away from her father and set it down. She gripped his arm and tried to pull him up the stairs. He continued to sway, until suddenly his foot caught on the step and Ginny had to hoist him back to keep him from falling.

Arthur stopped suddenly and looked at her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead gave a great wretch. Ginny wasn't quick enough and received the full brunt of it.

"Dad!"

He slumped against the wall, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Sorry, baby-girl."

Ginny stomped and gave a disgusted groan. This was her favorite dressing gown! She pulled it off, letting it fall to the floor. "I'll have to wash it later."

Giving her father another push up the stairs, she stayed behind him, not wanting another shower of booze and God only knew what.

Getting him to bed wasn't too much trouble. He'd passed out as soon as he'd fell back onto the bed. Ginny pulled off his shoes and pulled the blanket over him. Standing over him, she felt a hot rush of anger. This was happening far too often.

The smell was disgusting. She held a cloth over her mouth and nose, but the scent wasn't to be stopped. She'd vanished the actual mess and now stood watching the scrub brush glide over the floor issuing pink foam. Her dressing gown was soaking in a large tub of hot water; hopefully the stains weren't permanent.

Tears prickled and burned in her eyes as she climbed into her own bed an hour later. It was three in the morning and she was supposed to be at work in two more hours.

"_Work!__ I'm supposed to be in school, not cleaning up his messes_."

November had settled on them at last. The air was bitterly cold and the sky was a constant steely grey. Ginny fought back the urge to howl in misery as she thought of previous Novembers. Laughing with her friends in the corridors, training for Quidditch, huddling close to the fire...

"_You can't think about that anymore! That's all in the past; the past is dead and gone_!"

The past wasn't the only thing dead and gone though. Nearly everyone one of the friends she had giggled with were gone. Almost half of her family was gone. Charlie, Percy, Fred; they had all died during the last battle in June. Her mother had died only a week later in a bed in St. Mungo's. And now Ginny was left all alone with her father.

Bill had taken his old job back with Gringott's, so he and Fleur were now living in Egypt. Ron had decided to go to Romania and work with Charlie's friends at the Dragon Sanctuary there. Of course, Hermione had followed and was training to be a Healer. George, well, there was no telling where George was this month. He flitted here and there to what he claimed were "business meetings". Ginny guessed that he was trying to keep busy to avoid thinking about losing his family.

They had all done it. Almost as soon as the dust had settled and the dead were buried, they'd all ran as far as they could. Not Ginny, though. She decided to stay.

"_Decided; that's rich! What choice did I have?_"

Hogwarts had been all but destroyed. Repairs were expected to take at least until the beginning of the next year. All students were given the choice of attending other magical schools throughout the world or waiting for the re-opening. Ginny had received letters from several other schools offering her a place to finish her final year. She'd seriously considered Beauxbatons; she wasn't sure if she wanted to attend a _new_ Hogwarts. However, after the boys all ran off, the decision had been made for her.

Arthur was in a horrible state after Molly's death. It was almost as if he had lost a great part of himself and now couldn't function properly. He milled about the house, never speaking, never acknowledging anyone else. Ginny knew that he couldn't be left alone in this state. No, she would wait and return to Hogwarts in January. Surely by then her father would be ready to rejoin the living world...

He'd rejoined the world alright, but it hadn't been in the way she's anticipated. Arthur had found alcohol; and a great quantity of it. Now, Ginny was no prude. She had experimented with firewhiskey several times at Hogwarts; hell, she'd even gotten completely trashed after her break up with Justin.... but, if her experiences had taught her anything, it was that no matter how drunk you get, you have to go back to everyday life once you were sober.

And she knew that that was exactly what her father was trying to do. Truth be known, Ginny was partially to blame for it all. She had been down at the Leaky Cauldron picking up dinner for them, when she ran into Mundungus Fletcher. He was sitting at the bar, obviously trying to drown his memories of the war in a Hagrid-size tankard of mead, when Ginny casually suggested that he stop by for dinner sometime.

"_I think Dad would love to see you_."

Dinner came and went and so did Mundungus, only taking Arthur with him. They had been gone the entire night. Ginny found her father, passed out, on the front steps the next morning. And so the cycle continued in that fashion since late August. Her father branched out with his drinking buddies, though. Also, his selection of pubs got wider. Ginny hadn't had much trouble finding him in the beginning. He was either at the Leaky Cauldron (and thankfully Tom would send an owl when Arthur started getting too far along) or the Three Broomsticks. Eventually he and Mundungus stumbled upon muggle pubs and found that they had a much larger variety of "pain-killers". Lately, there was no way of knowing where they would wind up. Ginny had no choice but to simply wait for him to come stumbling home.

Soon, Ginny's thoughts carried her off to sleep.

* * *

She seriously tried to stay cheery...okay so cheery was too strong of a word....perhaps awake; yes awake would do it. She tried to stay _awake_ while pinning up the twelfth possible dress for the bridesmaid.

"I don't think so Eliza; this blue doesn't do a thing for my eyes. I need something green to really bring them out. Can't you just change the colors?"

Ginny tried to contain the groan that was fighting to escape. She desperately wanted to choke the snotty girl on the stool. She'd already tried six different gowns on, but none was apparently good enough. The bride, Eliza, looked just as annoyed.

"Oh, no problem Delia! I'll just go and cancel all the orders I've put in so far. I'll have them do everything in green to match your eyes."

Even though Ginny could practically see the sarcasm dripping from Eliza, Delia actually believed her. Her hand fluttered to her throat and she smiled.

"Oh, Eliza! You're so sweet to do that! Ow!"

Ginny looked up with apologetic eyes. "I'm so sorry, miss. The pin slipped."

Eliza smiled at Ginny and then turned cold eyes on her cousin. "I am certainly not going to change my entire wedding just for you, Delia. Ginny, we're going to go with this one. I'll schedule a time to have them all come in for a fitting, alright?"

Fifteen minutes later, Eliza and Delia left, still arguing over the effect a blue dress has on green eyes. Ginny was left thinking about green eyes....

Merlin, she hadn't thought of him in a while. Somehow, though, Harry Potter had a way of creeping into your mind when you least expected it. She wondered where he was now. His last letter had put him in Egypt.

__

_**Dear Gin,**_

****

_**You were right! These pyramids are amazing. The things these creepy old wizards did to people are horrifying. Did you know they used to stick red-hot pokers up dead people's noses, then scramble around their brains, and then pull the whole mess back out? Disgusting! Well, I guess that's better than burying people alive with those scarab things....**_

****

_**Well, I've been to see Bill and Fleur. They both say hello. You should see Fleur now. She's huge! I got to feel the baby move...it was really strange!**_

****

_**Well, I don't know where I'm off to next. I'll write when I get there!**_

****

_**Love from, **_

_**Harry**_

****

****

That letter had come about three weeks ago, and Ginny still had no idea where Harry was. He had sounded happy; heaven knew he deserved it. How he had ever gotten out of that battle with his life, Ginny would never know. In the end, he had fulfilled that damned prophecy. Voldemort was sent to the deepest circle of Hell, the wizarding world was once again safe, and Harry was left with his whole life ahead of him. He decided quickly that he was going to take advantage of it. As soon as he was able, he set off to see the world. He skipped around so much, that there was no logical way of tracking his progress. One week she would receive six different letters from four different places, and then weeks would pass without any word from him.

Ginny found herself missing him every time a letter came. They had grown to be quite good friends those last two years at Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione's new relationship had inadvertently left Harry as a third wheel, and Harry seemed to tag her as his newest confidante. Ginny didn't mind; it was nice having someone who knew your darkest secrets and not judge you. Now that she could finally see him as "Harry, the person" instead of "Harry, the hero", she felt comfortable around him. They talked about everything. She cried to him every time her romantic life crumbled around her, he ranted to her about Snape being a git, they both talked about Voldemort. No subject was off-limits. Rumors spread like wildfires that they were secretly dating, but they would both laugh. Nothing romantic ever happened between them, with one possible exception. They were sitting on the sofa in the common room together. Harry was listening to her rant about her break up with Justin, they both had had far too much firewhiskey, and they were completely alone. Before either knew what was happening, Ginny found herself pinned beneath him on the couch, kissing him intently. Barely a second later, they had broken apart, breathing heavily.

They had avoided each other for a few days before finally chalking the incident up to too much alcohol. Nearly a week later she was dating Dean Thomas (much to her brother's dismay) and Harry had broken up with Hannah Abbott. Neither talked about the incident again. Then a few months later, Voldemort made his appearance at Hogwarts and all hell broke loose.

Ginny was lost deep in her memories and didn't hear Madame Malkin calling to her. It wasn't until fingers snapped in front of her that she came to her senses.

"Sorry Madame Malkin! Did you need me?"

Madame Malkin smiled nervously. "Actually, I need to speak to you." Then looking around, she added, "In private."

Ginny felt worried. Had Madame Malkin seen the pin-slipping incident? Was she in trouble?

She sat in the seat her boss motioned to and faced the older woman.

"Ginny, you know as well as anyone that things haven't been progressing very well with Diagon Alley's reconstruction. The Ministry is really trying to get Hogsmeade and the school up and running." She looked uncomfortable and kept wringing her hands. "Well, the truth of the matter is the shop isn't doing well. There's so much construction going on that people are steering clear of the Alley. Why the only customers we have now are those who already had large orders placed before the attack." She turned her back to Ginny and looked out the window.

Ginny started to feel sick. She had been feeling that this was coming, but she hadn't really prepared for it.

"Well, you see, there simply isn't enough money coming in to pay for two seamstresses. And Marie has been with me for near thirty years, plus she's got three children, and with what happened to poor Robert..."

"Madame Malkin, please, don't. I need this job. I'll take a pay cut or whatever, just please..." A year ago, Ginny would have never begged for anything, but these were different circumstances.

The old woman turned around. She looked truly and genuinely sorry. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I really have no choice; I'm going to have to let you go."__

Ginny dropped her head in defeat. Now what would she do?

"You can finish out the day of you like. And I'll pay you for the remainder of the week..."

Suddenly, Ginny was filled with anger. She stood quickly and caused her chair to fall backwards. Jerking open the door, she yelled back, "You needn't bother! Just give it to Marie and her three _precious_ kids!" She slammed the office door and grabbed her bag from behind the counter.

Marie jumped to the side as Ginny stormed towards the door. "Tell your kids to have a Happy bloody Christmas from me!

Fifteen minutes later, she was standing in line at Gringott's, quite ashamed of herself.

_I shouldn't have lost my temper. It wasn't her fault. Maybe I should go back and apologize later..._

"Miss! Do you need help, or are you just here to enjoy the floor tiles?" called an angry goblin at the desk.

"Oh, sorry." Ginny stepped forward and pulled the vault key from her bag. "I need to know my current balance and make sure all my transactions were deducted." Handing over the key, she watched as the goblin checked the number and then disappeared behind a large shelf. Soon he emerged with a large black ledger, marked with her family's vault number.

Ginny was still amazed at how quickly the bank had gotten back into operation. Merely days after the attack, people were able to access their vaults. The centuries of paperwork had been reorganized in a matter of minutes.

_Maybe I should have paid a bit more attention to Binns...there might have been something about the bank in all that nonsense...._

"Here you are. This column shows your deposits and this one shows your personal withdrawals and the third shows withdrawals from third parties."

Ginny quickly scanned down the columns. Surely that couldn't be right! After paying all the monthly expenses she barely had ten galleons in the vault! And the payment to St. Mungo's hadn't been paid yet!

"Are...are these current amounts?"

The goblin sneered, as though having his calculations questioned was a serious offense. "Yes, all the vaults were tallied up this morning."

Her hands were shaking. _Dad must be taking money from the account! I should have taken away his key!_

"Is there anyway to switch this account over to another vault? And make sure that _I _am the only one who can access it?"

"Of course, but I'll need to verify your identity. You'll also have to fill out these..." He hoisted a large stack of parchment onto the desk. "And we'll have to have written permission from all other names attached to this account."

Ginny felt her head swim. There was no way she had the time for that paperwork, and she certainly couldn't get her father to just hand over the account. _Unless..._

"Alright, I want to switch over the vault."

"Very well, fill out this paperwork. Get this waiver signed by all those associated with the account. Bring it all back with a Ministry-issued identification paper. Your vault will be placed on hold until everything is completed. Money will not be allowed to be taken out; only deposits will be accepted."

Ginny stuffed the paperwork into her bag and left the bank. She had walked halfway down Diagon Alley before she'd even realized where she was going. Stopping and looking around she noticed she was in front of Florean Fortescue's. She dropped down into a chair and laid her head on the cool table top.

_How on earth am I going to get by? Even with two jobs I could barely make all the payments. _

Things seemed quite hopeless at this point. She was going to have to find another job, but that wasn't going to be easy. It had been five months since the war ended, but Voldemort's power of destruction was still being felt. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, St. Mungo's, and even Knockturn Alley had been attacked during the final few months of the war. Rebuilding was taking longer that anyone had expected. The school and the hospital were the top priorities for the ministry at the moment. The occupants of Diagon Alley were suffering from a lack of money to rebuild and also there were so few people who were qualified and trained to rebuild.

Ginny had applied for Ministry jobs, but they only wanted witches and wizards who had graduated school. She's even seriously considered trying her hand at construction; when you're desperate you'll do anything. In the end, Madame Malkin had been kind and took her on. A few days of begging had landed her a job at the Leaky Cauldron as an evening shift waitress. The pay wasn't great, but it had been enough. At least, up until now it had...

"Dreading a busy night, Miss Weasley?" Ginny smiled up at Mr. Fortescue. He sat down across from her. "Tom says Friday nights are the worst at the Cauldron."

"Yes, they are. All of the people working at the school and the hospital flood in. I'm worried that they're going to bottle up the Floo one night."

"I can't believe Rosmerta isn't going to open the Three Broomsticks back up. Does anyone know why, yet?"

"My brother said that she's decided to leave the country altogether. Says she just can't stay here; she lost her husband in the attack."

Mr. Fortescue sighed heavily. "Well, I suppose I can't blame her. Maybe she can start over somewhere nice." He leaned forward and smiled at Ginny. "How is your family, Miss Weasley? I've only seen your brother George twice since he reopened the shop."

_Let's see...Dad's a raging alcoholic, George is depressed beyond belief, Bill pretends we don't exist, Ron's too happy snogging Hermione to care, and I'm flat broke and in desperate need of a job. We're fine thanks, how about you?_

"Not bad. We're getting all getting together in December for Dad's birthday." _Fat chance of that..._

"Well, that's lovely. Good to see you're all getting on with life." Sitting back he gave her an unnerving smile. "And have you heard from Mr. Potter?" Mr. Fortescue sat back and looked reminiscent for a moment. "I remember the summer that he lived at the Leaky Cauldron. He would sit right at this very table and work on his school work. Poor boy, it looked as if just getting to be out in sunshine was the greatest thrill of his life. I kept giving him sundaes every hour." The old man allowed himself a chuckle.

Ginny couldn't help but grin, either. "I got a letter a few weeks back. He was in Egypt then, no idea where he is now." She looked down at her watch and realized the time. "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I have to run! I've got to be at work in half an hour!" Pulling her wand out of her bag, she waved goodbye and disapparated.

* * *

"Alright, Dad. I've left the chicken in the oven, its ready whenever you get hungry. I've got to get to work." Ginny yelled up the stairs as she buttoned up her freshly ironed shirt.

Arthur came downstairs. "I don't like you working all the time, Ginny-girl. A girl like you should be out having fun."

"Yeah well, I know that. However I don't have the luxury of doing that, now do I?" Ginny snapped. Immediately, she felt bad for being cross with her father. His face had dropped and he stood looking at the floor.

Pulling her hair back into a low ponytail, she crossed to him. "I'm sorry, Dad, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I lost my job at the shop today and I'm not in a great mood."

Arthur smiled down at his daughter and pulled her into a hug. Ginny liked the moments like this; when he was sober and almost normal again. He was being the father she loved.

"Well, I'd better be going. It's probably going to be a late night. I should be home around midnight, though." She kissed his cheek and disapparated.

Things were just as hectic as she had imagined. The crews working on the reconstructions flooded in around six o'clock. Ginny and her fellow server Constance were the only two on duty and even with magic things were getting out of hand.

"Tom, I need those orders for table eleven."

Ginny groaned as she heard the door open, admitting who knew how many more customers. It was past ten o'clock and there seemed to be no end in sight. Instead of the crowd thinning out, the pub seemed to become fuller every hour. She hadn't had a break yet and her feet were aching.

"Listen Tom, I'm going to dash to the…er…well just give me two minutes."

Tom waved a hand in acknowledgement to her and Ginny set off happily down the hall. Plopping down into one of the small chairs that sat outside the women's' bathroom, she sighed. The only good thing about nights like this was the tips that customers left. She could usually make more on Friday nights than the rest of the days combined.

Her hair was sticking to the back of her neck and it was irritating her. The elastic band she had tied it back with earlier had broken and left her hair hanging loosely. Pulling her wand from her apron, she twisted her hair into a knot on the back of her head and skewered it with her wand.

"You know one of these days you're going to set your hair on fire doing that."

Ginny fell out of the chair and landed hard on the floor. Squinting she looked up to see who had scared her.

"Now, really Ginny, I know it's been a while, but I can't have changed that much."

* * *

A/N: This was really going to be a one-shot, but it seemed to be getting out of hand. I decided to separate it into two chapters and be done with it. I do promise that it will only be two. Ginny's relationship with her father is the main theme of this piece, but she's going to end up forming a new relationship. I think you can all guess with whom, but don't let that stop you from reading! This is going to give her some much needed rest, and a sort of new way to see the world. But don't expect a happy ending, I've been doing too many of those…

After I finish this, The Lost Phoenix's sequel will be my main focus. I've got a great deal written, just not enough where I'm comfortable posting the first chapter yet. Patience is a virtue!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related names and places are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed! I had hoped to have this up earlier, but work and life seemed to have different plans... Thanks to all of you who will review, and I know you will!

* * *

"Harry?" Ginny sat on the floor, not really believing it. If it had not been for those unforgettable eyes that generally gave him away, she would have been sure it was a mistake.

A crooked smile graced his face as he held out a hand to her. "Are you going to stay down there all night?"

Taking his hand, Ginny got to her feet. She took a minute to appraise him. He was taller than when he had left, but Ginny was sure that it had something to do with the heavy burden that had been lifted from his shoulders. He had apparently succumbed to the fact that his hair would do whatever it wanted and decided to leave it be. It gave him a carefree look that Ginny had never seen before, and she quickly realized she liked it. When he lifted a questioning eyebrow at her, Ginny knew she had been staring for far too long.

"Sorry, I suppose I'm just shocked to see you. When did you get here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"Well, I got back about an hour ago. And I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise." He stepped back and lifted his arms into the air. "Surprise!"

Ginny could not help but giggle. "Well, I'm definitely surprised." Her happiness faded as she heard Tom's voice call from the bar.

"Ginny, where are you? Table four is waiting and Constance is backed up already!"

Cringing, she smiled dolefully at Harry. "I'm really sorry, Harry, but this is a bad time for catching up. I need to get back to work."

"Oh, sure! What time do you get off?"

"At least not until midnight," she said. "Why?"

"Well, I have a few things to do. Why don't I come back around eleven thirty and take you home."

"How chivalrous of you!" Suddenly a horrible thought came to her mind. _What if Dad is completely out of it again? I cannot let Harry see him like that!_ "Um...tell you what; why don't we just go somewhere quiet so we can talk for awhile? I wouldn't want to wake Dad up." _Meaning, I don't want to explain when he shows up completely plastered._

"All right, I saw a small coffee shop just down the street. How about we go there?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a few hours."

Harry nodded, but continued to stare at her. Taking a few steps forward, he gathered her in his arms. Ginny closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. It was just as she remembered; he'd always smelled of the outdoors. Just like a bright, beautiful summer day.

"I've really missed you, Ginny."

"I've really missed you, too."

With that, they broke apart and walked back to the front of the pub. Ginny watched as Harry opened the front door and lifted a hand in goodbye. Several people stared wide-eyed after him as though not believing what they had seen. Just as the door closed behind him, fervent whispers broke out all over the room. Sighing, Ginny retied the apron around her waist and set back to work.

For the next hour, Ginny kept glancing at the clock. She desperately wanted the night to end. Earlier she had simply wanted to get home and crawl into bed, but now the prospect of talking to Harry kept her going. Just as the clock reached eleven fifteen, Tom called to her from the back.

"Ginny, can I see you back in the kitchen for a moment."

Immediately, she felt as though she had been drenched in ice water. This seemed far too familiar, her boss asking to speak to her in private.

_Please, not again! I can't lose this job, too!_

She found Tom leaning against the sink, arms crossed, looking down at the floor. His expression was unreadable as he looked up at her.

"Ginny, I need to talk to you about something."

Ginny swallowed hard. Part of her wanted to begin arguing against this automatically, but she couldn't find her voice.

"Actually I need a favor from you. You can say no and that will be fine, but I'm in a very tight spot right now."

It didn't seem as though she was being fired, but she wasn't going to get her hopes up. Instead, she stayed silent and looked at Tom.

"Lisa quit this morning. Apparently, she's been accepted to the Auror training academy. I can't blame her for leaving, but it does leave me without a server during the week. And weekdays around here are nearly as bad as Friday and Saturday nights." Running a hand through what little hair he had left, he smiled at Ginny. "Truth be known, you're the best girl I've got. The customers love you and you know what you're doing. Ginny, would you consider switching to days? I've got one other person lined up, but she really wants to work at night. And, I know you've wanted to be at home at night for..." He stopped and smiled sadly at her. "Well, I just know that things would be easier for you. Moreover, I can pay extra. Do you think you would mind?"

Ginny didn't know what to do. This was the greatest thing that could have happened today. "Tom, I'd love to!" Without even paying attention, she'd launched herself at the old man and hugged him around the middle.

"Now, dear, it's not worth all of that. I still might need you at night sometimes when we're terribly busy."

"Thank you so much. You've no idea how much this means to me!" She pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Just then, Constance's head poked through the door. "Sorry to interrupt, but, Ginny, there's...er... _someone_ here for you."

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, what time is it? I've completely forgotten that Harry was coming!"

Tom smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. Pushing her to the door, he laughed. "Go on; go and visit with him. Be here first thing in the morning."

Ginny smiled and hugged Tom again. "Thanks for everything!"

Harry stood close to the bar, obviously trying to ignore the dozen sets of staring eyes. He smiled as Ginny walked up to him.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go," Ginny whispered to him. He nodded and she set off for the backroom.

The little room had once been where Tom lived when he'd first bought the pub. It was bare now except for a table and some chairs with a small bathroom to the right. Ginny grabbed her bag from one of the chairs and pulled out her extra clothes. She had learned a valuable lesson during her first week of work. It had been a hectic night and Ginny's nerves were on edge. She still had several hours to go, when a woman had asked her to hold her baby while she found enough money to pay for her meal. As soon as Ginny had taken the baby, it threw up all over her. Just as she tried to run to the bathroom, her pants snagged on something and tore up the side. It took nearly a half an hour to repair and clean her clothes. From that day on Ginny swore to always bring extras.

Looking in the mirror after changing, she wasn't impressed. She'd only had an extra work uniform, so she stood in a pair of black pants and collared white shirt. Her black shoes were scuffed and worn. She went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. She pulled a lipstick out of her pocket and tried to bring some color back to her pale face.

Ginny had never really been interested in how she looked. People had always told her she was a very pretty girl and for a long time she'd believed it. Lately, however, it seemed to be getting harder to see that she held any beauty. Long hours of work and worry had taken their toll on her. She had always been rather small for her age, but now it was worse. She'd lost a lot of weight in the past few months and it was showing. Her skin was pale; even her freckles didn't seem as vivid as they once were. Her once bright eyes now seemed dull and dark. Suddenly, she wondered why her appearance bothered her now after all this time.

Sighing distractedly, she reached up and pulled the wand out of her hair. Red hair tumbled over her shoulders, bouncing into soft waves. She pulled a brush through it and stuck her wand into her bag. Not looking at her reflection again, she walked out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting across a small table from Harry. The shop was empty except for one lone worker, who looked ready to go home.

"So who else knows you're back?" Ginny took a sip from her cup, watching him smile at her.

"Well, for now only you. However, by the looks of things everybody will know in the morning. I guarantee all those people back there were falling over themselves to get to the reporters first!"

"What about Ron and Hermione? Do they know you're here?"

"No. I stopped by Romania before I came here, but I didn't tell them."

Ginny leaned back in her chair and smile impishly at him. "Well, how long is this detour? Where shall I expect my next letter to be from?"

Harry remained silent for a second, sipping his coffee. Setting the cup down, he looked at her intently. "What would you say if I said I was staying; permanently?"

Shocked, she could only sit and stare. Did he meant it or was just joking? As she always did when she wanted to know the truth, she searched his eyes. His eyes were always so readable; he had never been able to lie to her. She found the answer, immediately; he was serious.

"I'd have to say I wonder what's changed your mind about seeing the world." Ginny sat down her own cup and folded her hands on the table.

"Well, I think I've seen enough of the world. Besides, traveling alone is very boring," Harry said, matter of factly.

"What are you going to do? I mean, do you have a job lined up?"

Harry laughed loudly; a hearty laugh that caused the hairs on the back of Ginny's neck to prickle in a pleasant sort of way. "You sound like Hermione. Yes, I do have something lined up. I've finally accepted that invitation for Auror training. I start in January."

"Harry, that's wonderful! You'll make a great Auror."

Suddenly, Harry began to fidget nervously. He looked around and then stood up, grabbing his jacket from the chair. "Do you think we could take a walk?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to tell you something and I just don't think I can do it here."

Ginny stood and pulled on her jacket. "Sure." She swung her bag over her shoulder and they both slipped out the door.

Walking along the street, neither spoke. Ginny began to feel nervous in the silence. Harry didn't seem to be in any hurry to say anything. They simply walked in companionable silence. When they stopped at a crossing, Harry finally turned to her.

"I've been trying to get the courage up to tell you this. Some Gryffindor I turned out to be, eh?" He laughed nervously, but reached out and pulled her back into the shadows. "Ginny, the truth is I didn't come back for Auror training. At least that wasn't the only reason."

Panic rose inside or her for the third time today. "I knew it! What's going on? Is it..._him_? Has something happened?"

"What? No! It's nothing like that!" Reaching out, he placed a hand on each side of her face. "Ginny, that's all over. You were there; he's gone. He can't hurt us anymore."

Ginny tried to calm herself, but she felt the tears coming. "I'm sorry, Harry. It's just...I still have nightmares. I dream that he comes back and takes everything down that we've worked so hard to rebuild. I have nightmares that he comes back to finish us off."

"Ginny, that won't happen. He's gone, forever." Harry wiped the tears from her cheek with his thumb. "Well, I suppose what I have to say won't seem so bad now."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Well, why don't you tell me and let me be the judge?"

Suddenly Harry seemed nervous again. He kept his hands on her face, but Ginny could feel them trembling slightly. "Ginny, all that traveling gave me a lot of time to think. I thought about everything that's happened in my life, all the people I've met, all the people I've lost..." He pulled away and began to pace slightly. "During all that I realized that I was missing something. Something that I've come to realize is too important to just ignore any longer. For a long time, I wandered around the world thinking about it. I've never been good at this sort of thing; you saw me at Hogwarts." Harry laughed nervously, then turned back to look at Ginny. "One night, while I was in Egypt, I just sat watching Bill and Fleur. I finally realized what it was that I was missing. I realized that I want what they have. I want what Ron and Hermione have, because even in their own dysfunctional way they love each other. I want to find that person who understands me better than anyone does. I want the one person who makes me feel like I can do anything, who stands by me even when the world is crumbling. Then I realized that I already had that person."

Ginny watched him struggling to find the words. She'd never been more fascinated by one person. She'd spent her first few years at Hogwarts watching this boy. She'd always wanted to solve the mystery of him. She'd been enthralled by the secrets that were locked behind his eyes. Before she'd realized what was happening, she'd fallen for him. After years of acting silly and girlish over him, she'd realized that they had nothing. She pushed the feelings she held for him to a place deep down inside and refused to let them surface. She'd settled for a friendship that turned out to be the greatest gift of her life. Now, though, as she stood in front of him, her stomach seemed to have trapped butterflies in it. Her heart seemed to be trying to escape its confines and her lungs weren't working properly. It was the same feeling she had had that night in the common room when they had kissed. Those feelings that she had kept so carefully hidden were now rising, nearly suffocating her. She swallowed and waited anxiously for him to finish.

Harry looked directly into her eyes. "It's you, Ginny, it always has been. I've loved you for so long that I can't even remember when it started. I hated every guy you ever dated at school. I was so happy when you broke up with them, but I felt horrible about it. I never wanted to see you hurt, but it killed me to watch you kiss someone else. That night in the common room wasn't just because of drinking. I'd been dying to kiss you forever. I was afraid that you wouldn't want me, so I just pretended that it was an accident." He stopped his ramblings and put his hand on the side of her face. "I love you, Ginny, and I came back to tell you that. I wanted to see if I had a chance."

Ginny stood in shock. _Did I really just hear that? Did he just admit that he loved me?_ She could only stare at him. _Say something, stupid, he's waiting for an answer!_ Her mouth wasn't working, but she desperately tried to speak.

The hopefulness in Harry's expression dropped. A deep blush was spreading across his cheeks and he dropped his hand from her face. Ginny hated the loss of contact, but still struggled to talk. _He thinks you're going to say no! Say something before you lose him again! _Since her mouth was betraying her, she did the only thing she could think of. Just as he made to turn away from her, she grabbed his hand. When he turned back, she smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt him give a sigh and pull her close to him.

"I take this to mean yes," he whispered into her ear. Still not able to speak, she simply nodded.

* * *

The next morning, Ginny couldn't stop smiling. The world seemed a brighter, more beautiful place. When she got home that night, she was surprised to find her father already asleep in bed. She woke around six, dressed, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Just as she set the plate of toast on the table, her father came downstairs.

"What are you doing up so early, Ginny?"

Smiling, she kissed her father and pulled out a chair for him. "Well, I've accepted Tom's offer to work day shift now, so I'll have to be at work at seven. Here have a seat; I'll have breakfast finished in a second."

Just as she turned back to the stove, a large barn owl tapped at the window. Ginny, humming lightly, opened it and let him in. "Here's the paper, Dad." She continued to fry eggs, oblivious to her surroundings, until her father spoke.

"Well, this certainly explains your mood this morning," Arthur said, with slight amusement in his voice.

Ginny turned to place the final plate on the table. "What are you talking about?"

Arthur smoothed the paper out on the table. "Britain's wizard hero, Harry Potter returned to London last night. His first stop was the Leaky Cauldron where his long time friend Ginny Weasley works as a server. Patrons of the pub said that the two had a brief meeting and then Potter left. About an hour and a half later, Potter returned and he and Miss Weasley left together. Whether their relationship has gone beyond friendship remains to be seen."

Ginny felt her happiness slip. She had forgotten about what Harry had said about the reporters. Why hadn't she thought about what people would say?

"So, why didn't you tell me Harry was coming home?"

"I didn't even know until he showed up last night. This is terrible! People will be getting all sorts of horrible ideas!"

Arthur smiled mischievously at his daughter. "So, the two of you are just friends? Well, it doesn't seem like you have anything to be ashamed of."

Ginny tried to stop the blush that she felt coming on. "Well, things are _different_ now."

"Different? Different how?"

"Well...I...he...we..." Ginny stopped. She was floundering around for words, which was as good as admitting she was about to lie. She sat heavily into an empty chair. "All right, Harry and I are...trying to figure things out. Dad, you know we've never had a simple relationship. Things have always been different for us."

Arthur patted Ginny on the knee. "Sweetheart, I know." He stood and was about to leave the room when he turned back. "Let me just say this. If I could choose anybody for you to _figure things out_ with, it would always be Harry."

Ginny smiled and stood to follow her father. She found him by the fireplace, pulling on a cloak. "Where are you headed so early?"

"I have a few things to do; don't be so persnickety. I'll be home when you get back from work."

She watched as her father Flooed away, wondering where he was going. She hoped it wasn't to go drinking. Every other point of her life seemed to be getting better; she hoped this would, too.

All during work that day, people kept coming up to her and asking questions. She politely refused them all, but couldn't stop smiling. The only thing that she could think of was the fact that Harry admitted to loving her.

As afternoon came, she suddenly remembered the Gringotts' papers she was supposed to fill out. Thinking about it ruined her mood. Did she really want to do this to her father? Could she deceive him like this? She decided she need more time to think about it and pushed it from her mind.

Six o'clock came at last. She called goodbye to Tom and avoided Constance's questions in the backroom. A few seconds later, she appeared back in her house. Dropping her bag onto the kitchen table, she was surprised to hear voices coming from the other room. She pushed the door open and was horrified to find Harry sitting with her father, both of them laughing about something.

"There she is! We were wondering when you'd get here." Harry smiled at her.

Ginny immediately looked at her father. He seemed to be perfectly sober and perfectly happy. He was smiling in a way that she hadn't seen him do since her mother died. A bit of the building panic inside of her seemed to subside.

"Harry stopped by for a visit, isn't that wonderful?"

"Oh well, that's just the reason I gave him. See, I really came to kidnap you." Harry stood and crossed the room to where she was standing. "What do you say to a night out? It's not as though we need to keep this a secret; half the world already knows." He gestured towards the paper lying on the sofa.

"I don't know, Harry." Ginny looked around to her father.

"Go on, Ginny. You deserve to have a good time. Maybe it will help you _figure things out_." Arthur and Harry shared a conspirator's smile.

"Are you sure, Dad? Are you sure I don't need to stay here?"

Arthur's face fell slightly. "Ginny, I'll be fine. Go!"

Still not sure, but not wanting to tell Harry no, she agreed. "Just give me a few minutes to change."

Sitting in front of her vanity, she smiled at her reflection. Was this real? Was she really going on a date with Harry Potter? It was like experiencing a brilliant day after months of grey stormy skies. Her world seemed to have gone right side up again, but it still felt odd. A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She looked around to see her father smiling at her.

"You're beautiful no matter what you do."

"You have to say that; you're my dad."

"Well, you've got a point. That still doesn't change the fact that you're beautiful, though." Arthur crossed and sat down on her bed. "Ginny, I want you to know that I thought a lot about what you said last night."

"Dad, I didn't mean any of that. I was just tired..."

He held a hand up to her. "You did mean it, Ginny, and I'm glad you said it. It made me start to do some serious thinking. You were right. None of this is your responsibility. I'm your father; I should be taking care of you. From now on I promise to act like the responsible adult that I'm supposed to be." He laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I went to the ministry today; I start my job back on Monday. They actually want me to take over the whole Muggle division once I get back into the hang of things."

"Dad, that's wonderful!" Ginny hugged her father. Suddenly life seemed twenty times better than it had earlier. As she and Harry left the house later, Ginny couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd wanted to.

Over the next few weeks, Ginny felt as if nothing could ruin her life again. She'd found love at last, her father was doing better, and the world just seemed a wonderful place.

Every morning she left for work after her father had already gone. Each evening she spent time with Harry. She found herself falling more in love with him everyday. The papers were having a field day writing about them. By their second week of dating, it was reported that they had moved in together and were planning a summer wedding. Both doubled over with laughter when they'd read that story.

On the first day of December, Ginny had received a letter from Hogwarts reminding her that term would start on January 3. She now sat across the table from Harry at his small flat.

Harry put the letter down and smiled half-heartedly across at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just... we've only had a little bit of time together and now you'll have to go away until July."

Ginny smiled and crossed around to kneel in front of him. "Harry, it's not that bad. Time will pass so fast that you won't even realize I'm gone. You'll be in training and far too busy to miss me. Plus, we've always got Hogsmeade weekends."

Harry smiled wider and bent down to kiss her. A feeling came over Ginny that she couldn't shake. It was a feeling that had got stronger over the past few weeks. She felt it every time they kissed, or touched, or even looked at one another. The feeling seemed to be urging her to do more, go farther. She'd tried to ignore it but the more she did, the stronger it became. Suddenly, she was overcome by it and knew what it meant. It wasn't something that they had talked about, yet. It wouldn't be her first time and she knew it wasn't his, either, but somehow this meant more than any of the others. Pulling away, she looked into his eyes. She could see that he was thinking the same thing.

"Harry, it's time." Her voice was soft and low.

"Are you sure? Are you sure you're ready?" His tone matched hers.

"I've never been surer of anything in my life."

* * *

Early morning light streamed through the high windows, and Ginny grumbled sleepily. She'd just had the most delicious dream and really wasn't ready to face reality. Really, she should be ashamed for dreaming such a thing, but she wasn't. To be touched like that, if only in a dream...

"Good morning," a deep voice called from beside her.

Ginny's eyes popped open immediately. Looking nervously to the left, she saw someone. Someone with messy hair and brilliant eyes. Lying back on her pillow, Ginny closed her eyes and pulled the covers up under her nose. "It wasn't a dream," she said, with a smile curving her mouth.

"Nope, not a dream." Harry laughed slightly and then leaned over, capturing her mouth in a kiss.

"What time is it?" She didn't really care, but the thoughts of her daily life began to push into her mind.

"Just before six."

Groaning again, she pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Bloody hell, I've got to get ready for work. I hope Dad got the note I left him last night." She tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed, but Harry wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back down.

"Wasn't he there when you left?"

Snuggling down against him, she sighed. "Yes, but he was asleep already. Getting back to work must be taking a toll on him. He's usually asleep by the time I make it home from work and he's gone by the time I get up."

Harry buried his face into the back of her hair. "I'm sure there's a lot to do. The Ministry is trying to have every single department back in perfect condition by the first of the year." At this, they both groaned. The first of the year meant a six-month separation for them. Pushing her hair to the side, Harry kissed the curve of Ginny's shoulder. "Don't go. Just send an owl and say you're sick. Stay with me all day."

The feeling of his lips on her skin was making the decision quite easy to make, but Ginny knew she couldn't. "I can't. There isn't anyone else to take my place. Besides I need the money." Ginny grimaced; she hadn't caught the slip in time.

Harry paused in his distraction and Ginny knew it was coming. "Why? Are you all right? Is something wrong?"

After some quick thinking, she turned to him and smiled. "Of course not. I just don't fancy living off Dad after I finish school. I'll have to get my own place." When Harry opened his mouth, she placed two fingers against it. "And I don't intend on living off of you, either. I don't think I could manage having the papers call me a _kept woman_." Giggling slightly, she gave him a quick kiss and bolted out of bed before he could pull her back.

She began to gather up her discarded clothes, chiding herself for being so careless. Harry still didn't know about the family's deep debts. Things seemed to be easier with her father working now, though. She was making more money with Tom and the owls had stopped bringing threatening letters. Ginny hadn't checked the bank vault in the past few weeks, but the last time she had been there, she'd been surprised to find enough money to cover the expenses for at least that week. She'd torn up the transfer papers; there really didn't seem to be a need for them. Things were getting better so there was no reason to tell Harry about the bad patch Ginny and her father had experienced. Arthur seemed to be doing much better. She had been telling the truth about her father's behavior. He was up and gone before Ginny rose each morning and generally in bed asleep when she came home in the evenings. Life with him seemed to be a constant slew of written notes. She told him each evening when she went out with Harry. Last night she had left the note, not knowing she wouldn't be home. Before things had got too far, she'd sent Hedwig with a note saying she had felt ill and didn't want to risk Apparating, so she was going to stay the night. Ginny had a feeling that her father would know why she really stayed, though.

"Well, if you aren't going to stay with me, at least promise you'll be back tonight."

Ginny turned to find Harry standing behind her. Crossing to him, she kissed him soundly and then took his chin in her hand. "Of course I'll be back. I won't get to though if I'm late for work, because Tom will kill me." She pulled on her clothes quickly and found her bag. Pulling out her wand, she gave Harry one last kiss goodbye and Disapparated.

The lunch rush had just ended and Ginny was humming to herself, wiping down tables.

"Ginny, you've got an owl," Tom called from the back room.

Flicking her wand, she sent the towel to a different table and dried her hands on her apron. _Probably Harry making sure I'm coming back tonight. _However, the owl perched on the back of a chair wasn't Hedwig. A stately looking barn owl peered at her through amber eyes, holding its leg out impatiently. Taking the letter, Ginny saw the seal of the Ministry on the front of the envelope.

"What on earth do they want with me?" Ginny slit open the letter and pulled out a single piece of parchment. Involuntarily, her hand went to her mouth as she read the first lines.

_Miss Weasley, _

_As all attempts to contact Arthur Weasley have failed, we at the Ministry Employment Department have no other choice but to send this letter to you. We regret to inform you that Arthur Weasley's employment with the British Ministry of Magic is hereby terminated as of December 1. Mr. Weasley has, on several occasions, broken the terms of his conditional re-employment. As his nearest next-of-kin, we hope that you will be able to relay this notice to him. We sincerely regret putting you in this position, but find we have no choice. We will expect Mr. Weasley to appear in our offices within the next week to turn in his identification. If you have any questions please feel free to stop in our offices during regular business hours._

_Our sincerest apologies,_

_Matilda F. Garner, _

_Head of the Ministry Employment Department_

_Nicholae M. Hargrove_

_Deputy Head of the Ministry Employment Department_

Ginny had fallen into a chair, her hand still covering her mouth. Silent tears trailed down the apples of her cheeks. This couldn't be happening. There must be some mistake. She nodded slowly; yes, it was all a mistake. Folding the letter and wiping her tears, she sought out Tom.

"Tom, I need to step out for about an hour. There's something I need to take care of at the ministry." Without waiting for an answer, she went to the small room and gathered her bag.

Five minutes later, she was seated just outside Matilda Garner's office. Reading and re-reading the letter, Ginny was growing more and more confused. What had her father done to be fired? Moreover, what did they mean by "conditional re-employment"?

"Come on in, Ginny." Matilda Garner stood on the doorway to her office, smiling nervously at Ginny.

Ginny was glad that she would be meeting with Matlida rather than the other man. She'd known Matilda all her life. Matilda and Molly had been best friends since their first day at Hogwarts, so all the Weasley children were completely spoiled by their "Aunt Mattie".

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Madame Garner."

Matilda shut the door behind her and smiled a bit brighter. "None of that, I've been Mattie since you started speaking. No need to be formal."

Ginny forced a small smile, but didn't say anything until Matilda was seated behind her desk. She pulled the letter from her pocket and placed it on the desk.

"I'd like to know what this is about."

Matilda sighed and slumped back in her chair. "Nicholae had to write that; I couldn't even bring myself to do it. Ginny, you have to understand, I fought this as hard as I could. I tried to convince the board to give him a chance, but they wouldn't listen. I wasn't even allowed to vote because of Molly."

Ginny didn't lift her eyes, but spoke forcefully. "Don't bring Mum into this. I just want to know why."

"We all know that things haven't been easy for Arthur since...well, since the end of the war. We kept waiting patiently for him to get sorted out and return to work. I know that seems insensitive, but we had an entire world to rebuild. We couldn't just sit around and wait forever. We hired someone new to take your father's position temporarily, but as the months passed, we realized that he might not come back. Minister Bones wanted Arthur to head up the new Muggle Division, but he never responded to our inquiries. We heard rumors that he was..." Matilda seemed to be searching for the right words. "Well, that he was worse than we ever thought. Several of our department heads saw him out with Mundungus Fletcher; who, I'm sure you know, is not one of the most respectable members of society."

Ginny's knuckles were white as she gripped the edges of her chair. "Mundungus is one of the bravest men I know. You seem to forget whose side he was on in this war, _Madam Garner. _I consider him to be one of my family's greatest friends."

Matilda smiled nervously. "Of course, I did not mean to insult you by saying that. It's just that it was reported that they were engaging in activities that all Ministry representatives are discouraged from."  
  
"If you're talking about drinking, just say it. In addition, I can assure you that my father isn't the first Ministry employee to do it."

"Well, certainly not. However, during the process of reforming our government, our employees need to be at their best. This is why all representatives are subject to conditional employment, or in your father's case, re-employment. Employees are expected to follow certain rules if they wish to remain with us. We understand that people have had hardships throughout these past few years, and we are willing to work with them because of this. Arthur, at first, seemed to be himself again. As the weeks progressed, however, it was obvious that he was not well. Sometimes there would be days that he would simply leave with no notice. Other days, he simply failed to show up at all. Close to the end, on the days he managed to stumble in, he was visibly drunk."

Ginny's mouth fell open. How could her father do something like that? "There has to be a mistake. Dad would never do that! He loves his job; you know that! How many opportunities has he turned down to stay in that filthy little Muggle Artifacts office?" Ginny was now standing, clasping the edge of the desk, and looking down at Madame Garner.

"Ginny, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen myself! There is absolutely nothing you or I can do about this. Shouting at me is not going to fix anything!" Matilda stopped and seemed to compose herself slightly.

Ginny swiftly crammed the letter back into her pocket and swung her bag over her shoulder. "Fine, but let me tell you this. My family..._my entire family_...fought in that war. Going into that my father had a wife and seven children. Now, he has no wife and four children. If you think a man can just pretend that something like that didn't affect him, then you're all dumber than I thought." She slammed the door behind her after her final words. Taking a deep breath, she headed for Gringotts.

"What do you mean it's all gone?" The three goblins around her made swift shushing sounds. "Don't shush me, you little demons! I thought I put a hold on my account! You let him come in here and wipe it all out!" Ginny's voice bounced off the walls of the small room.

"Miss Weasley. You put a hold on the account stopping any outsiders from withdrawing money. As Mr. Arthur Weasley is the primary account holder, he is free to withdraw money at any time."

Ginny wanted to scream and throw a tantrum just as she did when she was a child. How could things go so wrong after everything had been perfect? She regarded the room full of goblins severely. "Now listen to me! Thanks to you and your stupid rules, I have no money! You will open an account in my name and no one...I repeat, _no one else_ is to touch it! Is that understood?"

Her blood was boiling by the time she left the bank. An account was ready and waiting for her first deposit and Ginny was quite sure the goblins were now actually frightened of her.

It wasn't until she had gone back to work that she realized the severity of the situation. The account was completely dry, her father had been lying to her about work, and she had no idea how to fix any of this. Looking in the mirror of the employee bathroom, she stiffened her spine and blinked away the tears.

"There's no time to cry over this. You'll simply go on as you've always done. You can ask Tom to put you on double shifts."

Even as she said the words to herself, another nagging thought crept into her mind. What would she do after the first of the year? She was set to go back to Hogwarts in January. What would they do for money then? How could she let the boys know that she had let the situation get out of control? Ginny could already hear their accusing voices.

"_I knew we shouldn't have left you to deal with this!"_

"_You're just a little girl, Ginny! How could you think you could handle this?"_

"_Just go away, Ginny. We'll fix everything, as usual."_

"No! They did it to me before. I can fix this; I just need a bit more time." Nodding to herself in the mirror, she turned and went to find Tom.

* * *

A/N: Okay, quite a few apologies to make here! I am so incredibly sorry that it took so long to get this up. Things weren't going well. About half way through writing this chapter, I began to wonder if I really wanted to go through with it. Never fear though! I am back on track and ready to go!

Secondly, I know I swore it would only be two chapters long. After I got back to writing, however, my mind began to work wonders! Things just started flowing and I couldn't make them quit. I had the entire chapter written, but it was so incredibly huge I had to cut and paste the last part of it. Therefore, I will post this chapter now and hopefully have the final one up soon. (It still needs some tweaking!) Thanks again to everyone for the encouraging reviews! If it weren't for you, I would have given up completely!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related names and places are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Thank you all again so much. This, quite thankfully, is the final chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it. It is a rather sad, depressing tale, I know. I did take into consideration all of your pleading for a happy ending, but I couldn't just let the fluff overtake me. I think my original statement about "no happy endings" may have been a bit misleading. I didn't necessarily mean no happy ending whatsoever, but it isn't all fluff and marshmallows.

* * *

Ginny yawned widely, but continued to wipe down the table. She wanted desperately to go home and crawl into her bed. Looking at the clock, she groaned. There were still two more hours on this shift. Her feet were aching, she was sure that her spine was permanently curved from standing over the tables, and her head was pounding.

"Miss? Miss!"

She looked over to the old witch seated in the corner. "Yes, can I help you?" It wasn't easy to be polite at ten o'clock in the evening, but Ginny was trying desperately.

"I'm still waiting for that order. You promised it to me half an hour ago!"

"Damn," Ginny whispered under her breath. "I'm so sorry. I'll go and get it now." She pushed her way through the crowd and back to the kitchen. "Tom, I need that takeout order for table seventeen."

"What order?"

"The one I gave you…" She stopped as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. On it was written the woman's order; she had taken it nearly forty-five minutes earlier, but never turned it in. "The one I never gave you, apparently." Handing the paper to the older man, she tried not to meet his eyes.

"Ginny, this is the fifth time tonight. Are you sure that you are all right working two shifts? You've been slipping ever since I let you take both of them on."

Taking a deep breath, she spoke through gritted teeth. "I've told you, I'm fine. Now, I need this as soon as you can get it." Ginny turned on her heel and began to clear another table.

Ever since the day she found out about her father, Ginny's life had been worse than she'd ever thought possible. That afternoon, she had begged and pleaded with Tom to allow her to work from open to close. She'd sworn him to secrecy about the reason.

The fight with her father that evening had been horrible. Never once in her life did she remember raising her voice to him, and he had never raised his to her before. The shouting, however, had been enough to wake the dead.

_"That might not have been such a bad thing, though. Maybe Mum could have straightened things out."_

Arthur had told her, very eloquently, to mind her own damned business. He was an adult and would do what he pleased, thank you very much. As far as his job was concerned, he'd always hated working for the Ministry anyway. He could find something much better to do with his time.

All the while, Ginny was trying not to be sick from the pungent odor of alcohol that surrounded him. She'd shouted until her throat was raw. How could he have done this? Did he not care that they were in debt so severely that the house could be sold from under them? Did he not care that he was forcing his seventeen-year-old daughter to work two jobs just to keep the finances together? Did he not care that he was humiliating their family every night that he went out?

It had been that remark that had triggered something in Arthur. He had turned cold eyes on his daughter and said the most horrible thing Ginny could have imagined.

_"And I suppose you running around; acting like the Heir of Slytherin, trying to kill people is something to be proud of?"_

Ginny had stood, tears blinding her, not able to reply. She looked at him, suddenly not recognizing the man in front of her. Her father; her loving, devoted, sweet father could never have said anything as hurtful as that. They both stood in silence for a long while. At last, Arthur turned on his heel and left the house. Ginny climbed into bed, truly not caring for the first time, whether he ever came home again. Come home he did though, banging against the furniture in the dark and swearing at the top of his lungs.

They hadn't spoken to each other since that day. Ginny left for work long before Arthur ever thought of waking up, and was home long after he had left with his drinking mate for the evening. Rumor of his behavior was beginning to spread. Ginny often swore people were giving her, what were supposed to be, carefully concealed looks of pity. She's learned to act as thought her life were perfectly normal and that she was simply working like mad to ready herself for life after Hogwarts. That excuse seemed to appease everyone but Harry.

Harry, of course, knew something more was going on. He questioned her incessantly, never believing her feeble excuse of wanting to live on her own. She'd nearly broken down several times and told him the truth, but she knew she couldn't bear to see the pitying looks he would give her. Moreover, telling Harry meant telling her brothers and that wasn't an option. So, things had become distant between them. Several nights a week, he would brave the staring, whispering patrons of the Leaky Cauldron and come to see her. Ginny found she didn't mind this so much; she was generally so busy that they rarely had time to speak. She carefully declined any offers for dinner, stating that Tom simply couldn't spare her before closing. Harry had even told her that she was welcome to stay at his flat if she became too tired to apparate home, but Ginny had reluctantly said no. She wanted desperately to sleep in his embrace again, but there would be too many awkward questions she couldn't answer. In the end, she found it best to simply push him as far out of her life as she could. In a sense, she began to understand why Harry had always tried to distance himself from the people that cared for him.

Ginny handed the woman the bag of food, apologizing repeatedly for the delay. She was grateful that Christmas was only a week away; people seemed to be much more forgiving this time of year. Just as that thought came to her, she realized what Christmas would mean. Her family would be returning home, and she was at a loss of how to contain the horrible situation she was in. Surely, the boys would wonder where their father was disappearing to every night. Maybe she could play dumb; pretend that she'd never known he was going out at night…

"Hey there, anybody home?"

Ginny blinked and stepped back. Harry was waving a hand in front of her face, with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, sorry, I was a million miles away." Damn! It was Friday night, and she'd forgotten that he was stopping by.

"That's nothing new," Ginny heard Harry say, under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ginny didn't miss the brief look of regret that passed over his face. "Well, I just mean that you're always in this little world of yours. It's like no one else exists half the time."

Pulling her wand from her pocket, she pointed it at a stack of plates on a far table. Her anger was rising and caused the spell to have a bit more zeal than she'd planned. The dishes crashed to the floor. "Bloody hell and damnation!"

"Ginny, what on earth?" Tom had come running from the back room at the sound. He looked down on the pile of broken china and back up at Ginny.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I just got a bit carried away. I'll have it cleaned up in no time."

The old man shook his head and pushed her wand down. "Never mind this; I'll take care of it. You've had an owl in the back." He lifted his eyebrows and gave her a knowing look. "It seemed important; so I suggest you go and open it _now_."

Ginny sighed; she knew what it was already. Without a glance at Harry, she stormed back into the employee's room. A smoking red envelope was lying on the small table. Casting a quick silencing charm, she braced herself and broke the seal. A woman's voice filled the room.

"_MISS GINEVRA WEASLEY! IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE IGNORED ALL OUR OTHER ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT YOU! IT APPEARS ALSO THAT YOU ARE NOT A WOMAN WHO KEEPS HER WORD! IF YOU WILL REMEMBER OUR AGREEMENT FROM NOVEMBER, MONEY IS TO BE TAKEN OUT OF YOUR FAMILY'S ACCOUNT EACH WEEK TO PAY THE AMOUNT YOUR FAMILY OWES US. HOWEVER, IT SEEMS THAT THE ACCOUNT HAS BEEN CLOSED. WE HAVE RECEIVED NO EXPLANATION FOR THIS, NOR ANY FORM OF PAYMENT. IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU BY THE END OF DECEMBER, WE WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES." _The woman's voice dropped to a pleasant tone. "Good day to you and have a Happy Christmas."

The envelope burst into flames, and Ginny's tears mixed with the ashes on the floor. Things were really spiraling out of control now. This was the third howler she'd received in a week. Swiping furiously at her tears, she pulled her wand and sent the ashes to the trash bin. Everything inside of her wanted to simply collapse to the floor, collapse and cry until someone came and found her. They would hold her tightly as she told them what was troubling her. Then they would smooth back her hair and kiss her forehead; telling her that everything would be fine and she needn't worry herself about it anymore.

However, that wasn't going to happen. The only people to have ever done that were her parents, but now her mother was gone and her father couldn't even handle his troubles. No, she was all alone now. She would hold her head up and walk from this room, never showing that she was falling apart on the inside. Ginny smoothed her clothes and took several deep breaths. Pulling open the door and stepping out, she collided with someone.

"Damn!" She clapped a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid my brothers have had a bad effect on…" Stopping short when she saw her victim, Ginny frowned. "Eavesdropping is a new low for you, isn't it Harry?" Ginny pulled her hair back and twisted it up as she marched off down the hall.

"I wasn't eavesdropping! I came to see if you were all right. Sorry for actually caring about you!"

The redhead whipped around and eyed Harry. "No one asked you to. I'm perfectly fine and I certainly wouldn't need help from you if something was wrong." With narrowed eyes, she walked up to Harry. Ginny continued talking, but her voice was dangerously low. "Since you apparently haven't realized it, let me point something out to you. You keep coming here, even after I've told you not to bother. You keep trying to talk to me when I've expressly told you that I don't want to talk. You keep asking me out no matter how many times I turn your offers down. So let me say this, and listen very carefully because I'm only going to say it once. Whatever you thought there was between us; forget about it. It was fun, but now it's over." She stared him down, waiting for any comment.

Harry said nothing for a moment; only staring at her with a look that Ginny couldn't decipher. When he spoke, his voice was calm. "Well, if that's how you feel, I suppose there isn't anything I can do about it. Let me say this though; no matter how much you try to convince yourself and everyone around you, something is wrong. I just wish you would admit it, and let the people who care about you help."

Ginny stood, tight lipped, and then spoke. "I don't need your help, or anyone else's." She marched off and never saw Harry bend to pick up a piece of parchment and then Apparate away.

The next hour and a half passed by quickly, mainly because Ginny was in a towering temper and didn't watch the clock. She tossed her apron onto the chair in the backroom and snatched up her bag. She was going home and crawling into bed and pretending she was someone else, if only for a few hours.

"Good night, Ginny. Do get some sleep, child. You look like death warmed over."

She knew Tom meant well, but his constant fussing over her had nearly driven Ginny mad. She waved a hand at him, and Apparated with a loud crack.

Ending up a few feet from her usual Apparition spot didn't surprise her. With a head full of worry and guilt, it was pure luck that she hadn't been splinched. Ginny pulled out her wand, preparing to unlock the door, when Harry's voice called out to her.

Spinning around on him, the now fully irritated redhead pointed her wand directly at his face. "You just don't get it, do you? I said to go away and leave me alone. That generally means longer than two hours! Now, go and let me sleep."

Instead of the hurt look Ginny had expected, Harry seemed livid. His breath was quick and uneven, and his eyes blazed. Shoving a piece of parchment in her face, he nearly shouted. "Not until you've explained this!"

She took the paper from him, and instantly realized what it was. "I…I don't have anything to explain to you! You're not my father!"

"Quitting school! What are you thinking? Does your father even know about this?"

"I told you that it was none of your business! Besides, I remember you considering leaving school not so long ago!"

"The circumstances are a bit different, Ginny! What could be so wrong that you couldn't go back to school?" Harry's face was growing redder as he shouted at her.

Ginny opened her mouth, but realized she should calm down or the whole, horrible truth would spill out. "I just don't see the point. I have a good job; I can support myself. George is doing just fine and he didn't finish school, either!" Trying to sound indifferent, she drew herself up as if to dare him to argue further.

Just as Harry was about to counter her point, a raucous singing filled the air.

Dread shot through Ginny. "_No, please, not now! Not with him here!"_ She panicked and began to push Harry. "You have to leave, now. I want you to go…"

Harry resisted her and spun in all directions, looking for the source of the terrible music. "Who is that?"

A chorus of "Hoggy Warty Hogwarts" filled the air. The singers were getting closer, and Ginny knew that any moment Harry would figure it all out. She thought about grabbing his wrist and trying to Apparate in tandem. They would more than likely be splinched, but at least it would avoid the situation that was about to happen.

"Is that your dad…with…?" Harry squinted his eyes to get a better look, but Ginny pulled him around so he couldn't see. "Ginny, stop! Who's that he's with?" He shook her off easily, and walked in the direction of the two staggering men. Ginny raced after him, pleading with him. She begged him to go home and she would explain everything the next day.

"Mr. Weasley? Mundungus?" Harry frowned at them, and then coughed as the smell of alcohol hit him. "Merlin's sake! How much have you had tonight?"

Ginny was going to wretch. She felt the bile rising up as she watched her father try to throw his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Hrrymby! Whtwondrsurpsir!" Arthur's words came out so slurred that Ginny hadn't even known what he'd said.

"Mr.Weasley, you're completely smashed! Look at the both of you! How did you get back here?"

Mundungus walked up and pulled Arthur off Harry. He didn't seem to be quite as bad; his speech was somewhat coherent. "Knight Bus at first. They got mad when we got loud, so they kicked us off. Walked most…" That was all that came out before he gave a heave and wretched everywhere.

Harry tried to jump out of the way, while pulling Arthur with him. Ginny closed her eyes, and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. She wished to die at that very moment. There was no backing out of the truth now. It was staring Harry in the face, and some of it even landed on his shoe. Ginny opened her eyes and watched her father take a great drink from a bottle of amber liquid.

Mundungus made a grab for it, but Harry pushed him away. "I think you've had enough. Go home and sleep it off, Dung."

As Harry pushed Mundungus away, Ginny watched her father fumble with the bottle again. Rushing forward, she was determined to stop him. She made a grab for it, but he pulled away. Continuing to fight her father for possession, Ginny started to shout.

"No, dad! Stop this! Give it to me!" They pushed and shoved each other, Ginny's yelling growing louder. Just as she attempted to get control again, Arthur swung the bottle around.

_Crack! _

Ginny stumbled and fell to the ground. Her hands immediately went to her cheek. She could feel the warm blood seeping through her fingers. The bottle had made sharp contact with her left cheekbone.

"Ginny!" Harry's voice rang through the night, and a second later, he was by her side. "Shit! Here, let me see!"

Harry tried to pry her hands from her face, but Ginny held them steadfast. Her eyes were trained on her father.

Arthur stood, looking down at his daughter. His face bore no expression; he just stood silent and still. Finally, he let the bottle fall to the ground and began walking towards the house.

"Shit, Ginny, this looks bad."

Ginny jerked back to reality, as Harry touched her cheek. She recoiled in pain and looked up at him. His face was pale, and he looked panicked.

"You need to get to the hospital. Come on, I'll take you." He took her arm and hauled her to her feet.

"No, there is plenty of medical stuff in the house. I can fix it up in a few minutes. Could you look in on Dad for me, though?"

Harry looked at her wildly. "Ginny you're bleeding horribly. This could be serious!"

"I know, but just let me take care of it for now. If it doesn't stop soon, I swear I'll go with you." She looked back at him with eyes full of tears. "Please, Harry, just go and make sure he's alright."

Harry nodded, still looking at her oddly. After helping her into the house and sitting her down in the bathroom, Harry began to search the house.

Ginny looked at herself in the mirror. The left side of her face was caked with blood. Her hands were stained, and more continued to pour out. The whole thing was starting to swell, and a sickly purple color was coming up around her eye. She wet a cloth and pressed it to her face, only to scream in pain. Harry hurtled into the bathroom.

"I'm okay, Harry. Did you find Dad?" Talking was difficult, but she tried not to yell again.

"Yes, he's upstairs already passed out in bed. Here let me do it." Harry took the cloth and gently touched her face, trying to wipe away the blood. Jerking back at his touch, Ginny tried not to cry. "Alright let me see; it doesn't look as bad as I thought. I still think you need a healer to look at it."

"No, really. We have a pretty well stocked medical bag. Mum always had to patch the boys and me up. Look up there, top shelf. It's a big box." She pointed to a closet door, just outside the bathroom. Harry came back second later, holding the box.

Ginny pulled out several bottles and a roll of bandages. "I just need to clean it out and then I can heal it." When Harry gave her another strange look, she tried not to smile. "Mum made sure we knew some simple healing charms."

"Here, let me do it. I know a few myself."

Ginny sat back and let Harry cleanse her wound. Using his wand, he sealed up the gash. "Well, it's not perfect, and it'll probably scar. You really should let a trained Healer do it."

"It will be fine." Ginny stood and looked in the mirror again. A long, angry red line ran the length or her cheekbone. She felt as if she were standing outside her own body, watching the scene unfold. Shaking her head lightly, she came around and realized what had just happened. Clutching her cheek, she began to sob uncontrollably.

Harry stood and gathered her in his arms. Ginny sobbed into his shoulder, ignoring the pain in her face. All the tears that she'd kept inside for so long came pouring out. She didn't realize that Harry had led her out of the bathroom and sat her on the sofa, until a fire blazed to life in the fireplace. Harry still held fast to her, allowing her to soak his shirt with her tears.

Pulling away from her, he smoothed her hair and looked into her eyes. "Now, are you going to explain all of this to me?"

Ginny nodded mutely, and tried to pull herself together. She found that once she started, the story became easier to tell. By the time she'd finished, her tears had started again, but she felt better.

"I swear, Harry, I thought I could handle it on my own. I didn't want everyone thinking I was that poor, helpless little girl again!"

"Ginny, I seriously doubt that anyone has thought of you as a helpless little girl for a long time. You should have trusted someone, Ginny. You should have trusted your brothers; they are just as involved in this as you are. They may not be here, but you are all still family. Families are always there for one another." He gave her nose a tweak, knowing she hated that, and smiled at her. "They're even there for the strays they take in over the years."

She really tried hard not to smile, but when she did, she winced in pain. "How am I going to tell them?"

"We'll figure it out together. You're not alone in this anymore."

* * *

_It's been six years since that night. The memory of it still stands out vividly in my mind. Harry was right; I wasn't alone anymore. Together, we sent urgent owls to my brothers asking them to come home immediately. The following morning, I confronted my father. It was worse than I imagined it to be. We both cried and yelled a lot. In the end, my father came to realize what he was putting not only me through, but also himself._

_The boys were home that afternoon and we sat down and discussed everything. To my surprise, they did not scold me or chastise me for being so stubborn. Instead, they apologized for leaving me to handle things that weren't really my responsibility. _

_On January 3, Harry and my brothers saw me off to Hogwarts. Dad had voluntarily checked himself into St. Mungo's for treatment. He said that hitting me was his lowest point, and he swore to me he would get better._

_Now, I sit here at the seashore watching my daughter playing in the sand. Her father crouches next to her, trying to make a sandcastle. Their laughter reminds me of a scene from when I was younger, and my father and I used to play like that. As I watch Harmony and Harry, my heart hurts a little. Not from what I've lost, but what I fear for them. I pray that Harmony never has to see her father the way I saw mine. I adored him, placed him on the highest pedestal, only to see him fall and smash his life to bits. _

_I rarely see my father now. Once, I thought that we could go back to the way we were before. Now, I know that it is impossible. I watched my father become a horrible man, who lived only for the drink and gave no thought to the ones he hurt. I don't think I can ever get past that image now. He's married again, to a woman I hardly now. She is slight and quiet, much the opposite of my mother. She likes to say that it was she who "pulled Arthur from the pit of despair". Jeanne never mentions us in her stories. Dad seems to prefer things this way, though. Perhaps it's his way of getting on with life._

_Sometimes, I wish I could forget it all. Every time I try, though, I see that long silver scar on my cheek. It serves as my reminder, my lesson. There will come a time when Harmony asks me about it, I know. Then I will simply tell her the story of how a little girl loved her father so much that she forgot to love herself._

* * *

A/N: Oh dear, I feel like I have a load off my chest just for finishing it. When you read this, remember it did come from my own experiences, so most of what you read happened to me. Except the whole magic thing, though. My aunt was my "Harry" though, so there was no big romance…dang! I don't have a child, either, but I know one day I will and I'll have to explain all of this to them. I hope that someone came out of this with a moral, because that is why I wrote it.

A few thanks to give out: To "Mom", thanks for being there and helping me realize I couldn't be SuperGirl no matter how hard I tried. You're my hero and I love ya!! To Scott and Kiki, thanks for being my siblings when I need some. To Chris, for being the best husband a girl could ask for. To Dad, I know this will never meet your eyes, but thanks to you for teaching me the greatest lesson of all…

Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Mitzi! You're so great; thanks for the helpful British grammar tips! Oh and those commas…grrr…!


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